Buddhis

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OriginsAround 530 BC a

young prince named Siddhartha Gautama challenged the ideas of the Brahmin priests and created a new world religion

Born in 563 BC into the warrior caste He lived in luxury in

his family’s palaces and never experienced pain, suffering, or death

He married a beautiful woman and they had a son

One day while riding in his chariot outside the palace walls, Gautama saw a sick man, an old man, and a dead man

He realized that life was an endless cycle of pain and that the only way to escape that cycle was to seek wisdom

He left his family when he was about 29 and became a homeless wanderer with five other men who were also seeking wisdom

Gautama tried to find wisdom through physical suffering and harsh discipline but instead he gained only pain

At last, after days of meditating deeply in the shade of a tree, Gautama felt that the truth had come to him

At this point, he became known as “The Enlightened One,” or Buddha

First Noble Truth: Everything in life is suffering and sorrow

Second Noble Truth: The cause of all this pain is people’s self-centered cravings and desires --- people seek pleasure that cannot last and that leads only to rebirth and more suffering

Four Noble Truths

Third Noble Truth: The way to end all pain is to end all desires

Fourth Noble Truth: People can overcome their desires and attain enlightenment by following the Eightfold Path

Right knowledge, right purpose, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation

By following the Eightfold Path, anyone could attain nirvana--which was the release from all pain and suffering

Eightfold Path

Buddha taught his followers to treat all living things (humans, animals, and even insects) with kindness and love

Buddha eliminated the caste system, the rituals associated with Hinduism, and the ancient language (Sanskrit) of the Vedas and Upanishads

Concerned with all human beings---women as well as men, and lowborn as well as highborn

Primarily a monastic religion---young men leave their families to become monks dedicated to the Eightfold Path and achieving enlightenment (and, eventually, nirvana)

The most important symbol in Buddhism is the Wheel of Life which depicts the cycle of birth and lifeThe eight spokes

symbolize the Eightfold Path

Buddhist teachings & beliefs were recorded in a collection called the Tripitaka